The present invention relates to a connector fixed to a printed circuit board via a plurality of contact pins, and more particularly to a connector constructed for electromagnetic shielding.
One known connector comprises a pair of insulating connector housings one of which holds a plurality of female contact pins and the other holds a plurality of male contact pins. Usually, the female and male contact pins are press-inserted or press-fitted into holes of the respective connector housings and separately located in the connector housings by leaving a predetermined space. When the two connector housings are coupled with each other, the male contact pins engage and electrically connect with the female contact pins.
However, in the above-described conventional connector, outer or external noise is easily received by the female and male contact pins. To prevent the external noise, a connector disclosed in the Japanese Patent Disclosure Gazette No. 50-55892 published on May 16, 1975, has an insulating housing whose external surface is coated with a conductive film, part of which is connected to a grounding pin among the contact pins.
In this connector, however, only shielding against external noise signals to the connector housings is provided, but shielding against crosstalk between neighboring contact pins in the connector housings is not provided.
Crosstalk between contact pins is cut off in a connector described in the Japanese Patent Disclosure Gazette No. 58-165284 published on Sep. 30, 1983. In this connector, the two connector housings, which are respectively holding the female and male contact pins, are made of metal, and the contact pins are respectively fixed in holes of the metal connector housings via cylindrical insulators so that they do not directly come into contact with the connector housings.
However, as the pair of connector housings is made of metal, the connector housings cannot be molded or fabricated easily, and the boring of the holes is troublesome. Moreover, a large number of cylindrical insulators have to be inserted into the holes in the connector housings one-by-one, which results in tedious and time consuming work.